


Always protected

by WolfFromMars



Category: Homestuck
Genre: Emotions!, Inspired by another fanfic, M/M, Regrets, character study mostly, read the original content it’s honestly so good i love it so much
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-01-18
Updated: 2020-01-18
Packaged: 2021-02-27 14:47:27
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 620
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22308901
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/WolfFromMars/pseuds/WolfFromMars
Summary: You should never be forced to choose between family and not-quite-friends-but-not-your-enemy-anymore
Relationships: John Egbert/Karkat Vantas
Comments: 3
Kudos: 11





	Always protected

**Author's Note:**

  * Inspired by [Battlefield Terra](https://archiveofourown.org/works/365950) by [Asuka Kureru (Askerian)](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Askerian/pseuds/Asuka%20Kureru). 



> This work contains spoilers of the fic it’s based on, Battlefield Terra, they’re kinda hinted at, but you should really read that one first.
> 
> What else, well this is very self indulgent and something I couldn’t get out of my head so might as well post it somewhere! Have fun

There was a boy, panting, having shoved out of the way a flying table coming his way. His body is twisted, palms tense against the wall, protecting with his frame him who’s between his arms, but his eyes are facing outwards.

And there, there’s another boy. His skin isn’t the colour it should, weird, completely alien to everyone and everything, wrong, the enemy.

John is looking at the offender, his sister, the one he loves most in the world and the universe. His eyes are steel and he looks like a cornered animal, showing teeth.

Karkat looks like a doll, scared, stretched too far.

But protected.

Always protected.

***

“You’re killing him”

You flinch. You’re not used to this level of aggression from her, but you’d be stupid to forget for even one second the fierce strength behind her blue eyes.

“You’re killing him, serving him up in a silver plate to that... Thing.”

“Yes” You answer, because there’s nothing else to say really.

“And you’re fine with it?!” You wonder if she’s gonna throw another table. “You love him! I thought we were family-!”

“We are” And that hurts as it leaves your lips, you ignore the sting in the corner of your eyes, taking note and reprimanding yourself at the same time, in the privacy of your own mind.

She’s hurt. You see her visibly swallow all of that down. She’s a smart girl. Tragically.

“The plan is working. That’s all we could have hoped for.”

She doesn’t want to look at you anymore, you can tell by how she turns around, her mouth still clenched, like an old man with a grudge. You could never tell her that.

“You don’t deserve him” She spits on her way out.

And she’s probably right.

He doesn’t deserve any of this, everything he had to go through because of your plannings and your decisions.

But he had always trusted you before. You can’t help but picture his smile, as if you briefed him in this crazy plan of yours.

‘Sure, I’d do it!’

Damn him. Damn him for having your heart. Damn you for having any heart at all.

***  
There’s a stillness in the room that never used to be there, at least when John was around.

And even less with Karkat around. But there’s no one in the common room now.

The TV is playing but he isn’t watching, not really. He’s distracted by this ad or another. The news come back and he straightens.

The news of the alien hadn’t broke out yet, but the constant attacks had to get noticed eventually. There was so much they could cover up.

And that was him. An old picture in an old parade. In their name. He can see Dave behind him, smackering his shoulder. Underneath the picture, there’s a word that blurs everything else out. 

“Traitor?”.

It churns at him. He hadn’t betrayed anyone, it was all part of the greatest game they all had played with him. Him and Karkat.

God it hurts to think his name. He’s not confined to this building anymore, he could go to the gym, work all these thoughts out in his favoured way, being busy. But he doesn’t feel like it. He’s entitled to being a bit of a slump. Just for a while anyway.

The news end, not saying much he didn’t knew already. Sometimes he’d like to know about the public opinion. What everyone thinks about him, being kind of a public figure. Sometimes he thanks his father he never let him have a twitter.

There’s that ache again. That absence. What’s wrong with him? What’s wrong with him. Everything.

He curls up in the sofa and let his mind disappear.


End file.
